Kelsey Grammeropens our interview with a quote from a poem by Jorge Luis Borges.
Because of course he does.
Though one cant imagine Grammer having nearly as many disastrous dinner parties as his fictional counterpart.
Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane.Chris Haston/Paramount+
So what keeps bringing Grammer back to the well of Frasier Crane?
And I always thought that’s what Frasier’s like, Grammer tells EW.
Frasier treats the universe like a bauble.
Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane and Jack Cutmore-Scott as Freddy Crane.Chris Haston/Paramount+
It’s like it’s a magical gift that he can just go anywhere in the world with.
And Frasier knows how to wink.
And did you take any inspiration from your own life?
Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane and Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin.Chris Haston/Paramount+
And honestly, I thought, “Well, how can you live for so long?”
It’s as simple as, “Was life okay today?”
“Yeah, it was.
Kelsey Grammer and Patrick Stewart from the original ‘Frasier’.Chris Haston/Paramount+
I got up in the morning and I found something new to do.
I found something wonderful about life again today.”
And why I’m still here is why Frasier’s still here.
(l-r) Nicholas Lyndhurst, director James Burrows, Anders Keith, Jess Salgueiro, Kelsey Grammer, Jack Cutmore-Scott and Toks Olagundoye on the set of ‘Frasier’.Chris Haston/Paramount+
So the idea of putting him back on as a character was easy.
He’s endlessly fascinating because life is endlessly fascinating.
I’m a bit of an optimist personally, so I guess that bleeds into the performance.
But Frasier’s got new challenges every time he turns around.
Whatever happened to, ‘This’ll do?'"
Frasier’s not that guy.
He is going to fight for the rest of his life to find that indescribably perfect place.
And whether or not he ever finds it, he’s still going to keep searching.
And has your approach to playing Frasier changed at all?
Well, he’s a little mellower.
He’s a little less goofy about some things.
He has certain knowledge now.
He’s now his dad.
That’s what it comes down to.
And now he’s the guy that needs to live up to the role his dad showed him.
I said, “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
[Laughs]
It was so nice seeing Bebe Neuwirth back as Lilith.
Can you talk about working with her again?
And do you have a hard time falling back into old rhythms, or is it very easy?
No, it’s funny.
It’s not hard, no.
You just rehearse a little.
She knows how to act.
She’s really good at it.
This character is one of the greats.
She just puts her on and it’s fantastic.
And so their relationship is fun.
They have a child together, and they both have always been pretty responsible about that.
With reboots, I think there’s sometimes a tendency to want to change the formula of a show.
Was there any point where you felt thatFrasiershould be maybe a single-camera show without a studio audience?
Multi-cam is a magnificent medium.
It has been ignored lately or just not practiced lately.
People have gone in another direction.
Then that’s how they get the most views, and we don’t need it.
I think that’s always been the key of sitcoms.
People still watchGolden Girlsand say, “Oh my God, this show is wonderful.”
I’m sitting there like, “This is great.”
We had Niles being a professor somewhere and Daphne maybe living in New York.
We had a whole bunch of ideas that possibly could’ve taken place.
Frasier at one point was going to go to New York to discover something.
He left with his tail between his legs.
He didn’t fulfill his dream there.
He didn’t end up conquering the town the way he wanted to.
So it’s back to Boston we go."
It’s never vindictive.
A lot of shows from the ’90s haven’t aged as well.
And we sort of relished in it.
One of my favorite moments was when Frasier says, “Is it perfect?
No, but I’ve always wanted to be part of a power couple.”
He was going out withPatrick Stewartand they were sort of dating.
And it was so tongue-in-cheek about how their cultured sensibility sort of screamed of a gay sensibility.
Do you have any ideas forFrasierstorylines in the future that you would love to do?
We have not done any storylines yet.
We have not had a chance to even sit down and talk.
And so we don’t know what the next year is exactly because no one’s told us.
So we’re just waiting.
That’s my hope, and that we have a real library of the newerFrasieras well to turn to.
Since you’re back in Boston, obviously the question is, is anyone fromCheersgoing to pop up?
I don’t think it would be right for us to go back to the bar.
I don’t know.
I imagine that Frasier might be interested in sorting out or visiting the past a little bit.
That might be kind of interesting, and then use clips.
I just thought of that now.
It might be a fun idea.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
